تقنية HMI في الحقول: ما الفرص التي توفرها لقطاع التكنولوجيا الزراعية

Agriculture is evolving rapidly, especially when it comes to technological advancements. This sector now benefits from modern machines that automate a lot of work and solutions such as IoT and AI that make farming work far more effective. One of the trends that has come to the fore recently is HMI technology. How can human-machine interfaces improve the way your agritech company operates?

When agriculture and technological innovation meet, the results are just spectacular. The latest tech advancements revolutionise traditional farming practices – from autonomous agricultural machinery to artificial intelligence and sustainable solutions, the agriculture sector is now enhancing efficiency and productivity but is also becoming more sustainable. While there are several fascinating trends in agritech services, there is one that deserves special attention, namely – automation in agriculture, especially through HMI – human-machine interfaces.

في هذه المقالة، سنوضح لك كيف يمكن لشركتك في مجال التكنولوجيا الزراعية تنفيذ تقنية HMI والاستفادة منها. لكن لنبدأ من البداية.

الأتمتة في الزراعة – كيف تجعل أحدث التطورات التكنولوجية العمل أكثر فعالية

There are several interesting technology trends to watch in this sector in 2023 and beyond. For instance, the use of drones is becoming increasingly popular these days in agriculture. Drones can be used to plant trees, monitor crops, spray herbicides, or for fruit-picking purposes. According to ExplodingTopics.com، تتزايد نتائج البحث عن "الطائرات المسيّرة الزراعية" باستمرار (بنسبة 119% خلال السنوات الخمس الماضية)، ومن المتوقع أن ينمو هذا القطاع بمعدل نمو سنوي مركب يزيد عن +20%.

على سبيل المثال، الذكاء الاصطناعي الدقيق, a Canadian agritech startup, developed an advanced drone-based computer vision technology for guided weed targeting in row crop farming. Thanks to this technology, the drones can spray only the problem areas and not waste herbicides spraying on bare ground or healthy crops. Precision AI estimates their technology can help save farmers up to 52 دولارًا للفدان لكل موسم زراعي.

Another interesting trend is related to vertical farms. Their popularity has been growing lately, primarily due to the fact they can provide fresh produce all year round. Back in 2021, the value of the vertical farming market was estimated at $3.1 billion. It is predicted that it will grow to a huge 9.7 مليار دولار على مستوى العالم بحلول عام 2026, وفقًا لصحيفة نيويورك تايمز.

Vertical farms frequently integrate automation and robotics for tasks such as planting, harvesting, and monitoring crop health. This reduces the need for manual labour, but also increases efficiency, and ensures consistent care for the crops. Automated systems are responsible for watering, lighting, and fertilising, but they are also used to plant seeds. As a result, everything is accelerated and more effective.

في عام 2023، هناك العديد من المزارع التي تعمل بهذه الطريقة. إحداها هي Plenty – an agricultural producer located in San Francisco. Their indoor vertical farms are filled with robots and automated machines taking care of almost every single element of the farming process.

وبالحديث عن الأتمتة في الزراعة، هناك اتجاه آخر ينبغي لجميع شركات التكنولوجيا الزراعية أن تهتم به بشدة – واجهات الإنسان والآلة. كيف يمكنهم تحسين خدماتك في مجال التكنولوجيا الزراعية؟

ما هو حل واجهة الإنسان والآلة (HMI)؟

In general, HMI is a set of software and hardware solutions that allow human operators to monitor and control the way machines do their jobs. In the agritech sector, HMIs enable farmers and machine operators to interact with and control agricultural machinery and systems.

Many of the latest agricultural machines and devices (like tractors, harvesters, and other farming equipment) come with built-in touchscreen interfaces and data visualisation systems. These touchscreens are the perfect examples of HMIs. Through those systems, farmers can easily interact with and steer various functions and settings of a given machine. Additionally, these interfaces often provide real-time data on all the relevant factors and parameters, such as:

• مستويات الوقود،
• ظروف التربة،
• مراقبة الإنتاج،
• موقع الآلة ونسبة العمل المنجز.

What’s important is that when it comes to agritech services, HMIs are not stand-alone solutions. They must be integrated with the machine itself and have access to relevant data points. Therefore, HMIs are usually part of precision farming equipment, automated machinery, and data monitoring systems.

Obviously, not every farming machine is equipped with an HMI system by default. Such features are usually available in the newest models and are frequently charged extra. Plus, there is a whole list of machines and devices that are not offered with HMIs, but they could definitely use them.

This is where our role begins. If you’re in a situation like this and would like to implement an HMI system in your farming equipment, read on, as this is possible even if your machines came to you without such a system. But before we get to this question, let’s have a look at the benefits of implementing HMI in an agritech company.

كيف يمكن لقطاع التكنولوجيا الزراعية الاستفادة من تطبيق واجهة الإنسان والآلة

هناك قائمة كاملة من الفوائد التي تنبع من حقيقة أن أعمالك الزراعية مجهزة بحلول واجهة الإنسان والآلة (HMI)، مما يتيح أتمتة شبه كاملة في الزراعة. دعونا نلقي نظرة عليها:

تحكم كامل أو جزئي عن بُعد في آلاتك وأجهزتك

With HMIs, your agricultural machinery gains the capability for autonomous or supported machine driving. Why is this significant? For example, imagine the convenience of remotely guiding your equipment via just a normal tablet. Autonomous features not only streamline operations but also help you with resource optimisation, allowing your machines and devices to do their jobs with minimal human intervention. The ability to remotely control and monitor your agricultural machines gives you more flexibility, enabling your farmers to manage multiple tasks simultaneously.

راحة مشغّل الآلة

With HMI systems, your machine operators can work in the cockpits equipped with tablets providing a real-time 3D view of every angle of the machine, its operations, and surroundings. HMI solutions offer operators the option not just to control the machine but also to get a comprehensive understanding of the working environment. Precise HMI navigation capabilities, coupled with the option to set up area boundaries for the machine (so that you don’t go into your neighbour’s field), ensure full work accuracy.

مراقبة تقدّم العمل

Thanks to HMIs, supervisors and managers can gain a bird’s-eye view of work progress through a desktop/mobile app, giving them real-time access to what’s going on. This feature provides them with complete insight into the machine’s status and condition. This way, tracking work progress becomes much easier, allowing for timely optimisations.

المحاكاة

HMI combined with a digital twin solution introduces the capability of running diverse simulations beforehand, allowing agritech companies to improve their farming strategies prior to implementing them in real-life conditions. You can use those simulations, e.g., to test different planting patterns or assess the impact of variable factors (e.g., the amount of herbicides used). Thanks to those simulations, making informed decisions and planning resources becomes much easier and quicker.

خفض التكاليف

Finally, with HMI-driven advancements, you can reduce the costs involved in running your agritech company. Automation in agriculture gives you access to reduced fuel consumption and wear monitoring. Moreover, the integration of software-driven machine movement limitations minimises potential errors and accidents, further reducing repair and maintenance costs. This way, HMI solutions not only enhance your operational efficiency but also mitigate risks and optimise resource usage.

الميزات التي يجب أن تتوفر في واجهة HMI للتقنيات الزراعية لدعم العمل الميداني

HMI is not strictly an agricultural solution. In fact, HMIs find applications in a lot of different market and industry sectors. Obviously, in each sector, HMIs look a bit different, as they need to be adjusted to the specific needs of a given industry.

عندما يتعلق الأمر بأتمتة HMI في الزراعة، هناك ما لا يقل عن ست ميزات مهمة يجب أن يوفرها نظام HMI الجيد:

• واجهة مستخدم بديهية: Farmers usually don’t have extensive experience with advanced IT systems. For them to operate HMIs, they must be easy to learn and intuitive to navigate. Moreover, in this niche, HMIs are usually used during fieldwork, so they should be comfortable to operate in different conditions and not distracting.
• توافق كامل مع الأجهزة المحمولة: Typically, there’s more than one person involved in fieldwork. With a web, mobile or desktop app, the company’s management can have real-time access to the latest information and data. To streamline data accessibility, HMIs should be mobile-friendly for real-time monitoring and control.
• مراقبة البيانات وتحليلاتها في الوقت الفعلي: In agriculture, conditions can literally change overnight. A good HMI system should provide real-time data on such elements as the weather (access to the latest weather forecasts is also very helpful), soil conditions and other relevant parameters. A built-in data analytics feature can also be very helpful and provide farmers with current insights on their crops and conditions so that they can make more informed decisions.
• أتمتة الزراعة والتحكم عن بُعد: Drones, irrigation systems, fertiliser spreaders and even GPS-guided tractors – all those machines and devices can be controlled remotely through HMI. This way, your farmers can make their work far more effective.
• إدارة المحاصيل: Advanced HMIs can support you in efficient crop management. The most advanced HMIs can assist you with tasks such as scheduling planting, pest control and the use of herbicides, irrigation, and fertilisation. Here, resource management (including water, fertilisers, and pesticides), by providing insights into usage and recommending optimal levels.
• التكامل مع إنترنت الأشياء: Almost all of your farming tools and machines can be equipped with IoT sensors monitoring various conditions and parameters. There are IoT sensors enabling you to monitor soil quality, moisture levels, humidity, temperature, and other relevant parameters. If you want to make the most of this technology, you can integrate your IoT sensors with the HMI system.

مبادرتنا في البحث والتطوير لواجهات الإنسان والآلة: دراسة حالة DigiTwin

If you want to create an HMI system with a farming machine, such as a tractor or a harvester, you need to create its digital twin. In short, a digital twin is a virtual representation of a physical machine. To create a digital twin, we use IoT sensors and other devices to replicate the characteristics, behaviour and condition of the real machine. In other words, you get a virtual version of the machine, but you have real-time access to what’s going on with the real one.

مع التوأم الرقمي، يتمتع نظام واجهة الإنسان والآلة (HMI) الخاص بك بإمكانية الوصول إلى جميع المعاملات الحيوية، ويمكنك مراقبة آلاتك وتوجيهها بفعالية أكبر، حتى لو كنت بعيداً تماماً عن المزرعة أو الحقل.

Earlier this year, we developed such a product using Unreal Engine 5 technology. DigiTwin is an HMI research & development initiative, a digital echo of an excavator. The idea behind the project was to provide support for heavy or agricultural machinery as the concept could further be transferred to other devices. DigiTwin aims to support the machine operator via a tablet inside the cockpit, increase safety and reduce costs with a supervisor’s application for remote site monitoring.

Our HMI software provides smooth motion reproduction without delays or micro-/high-frequency movements. During the initiative development, we overcame significant device obstacles, and the software is now optimised for onboard hardware and reduced data transfer.

ألقِ نظرة على المخطط الذي يوضح الجوانب اللوجستية لمشروعنا:

إذا كنت ترغب في معرفة المزيد عن هذا المشروع، ندعوك لإلقاء نظرة على دراسة الحالة هذه في مدونتنا: مبادرة HMI Dojo: تطوير التوأم الرقمي في Unreal Engine 5.

الملخص

We hope this article helped you understand the full potential of agriculture automation with HMIs. With those systems, you can make your work easier, faster, and more effective. Moreover, you can plan farming work and manage crops in a streamlined manner thanks to easy access to the latest data and forecasts.

إذا كنت ترغب في معرفة كيف يمكن لواجهات HMI أن تعمل في شركتك، فلا تتردد في التواصل معنا. ابدأ بـ تطوير واجهة الإنسان والآلة الصفحة الفرعية وأرسل لنا نموذج تواصل قصير (ستجده في نهاية هذه الصفحة الفرعية). وسنتولى الأمر من هناك!